Islamabad: A recent report by the World Bank evaluates the current state of social protection systems in South Asia, identifying significant gaps that hinder the region’s ability to protect its most vulnerable populations from economic and climate-related shocks.

According to The World Bank, the report titled “Rethinking Social Protection in South Asia: Toward Progressive Universalism” highlights that despite considerable progress in poverty reduction over recent decades, South Asia still struggles with a high proportion of vulnerable households. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with ongoing economic crises and climate impacts, have exacerbated these vulnerabilities, pushing millions more into poverty, particularly affecting women, youth, and children.

The report criticizes the current social protection expenditures in the region, which are among the lowest relative to GDP globally, with social assistance programs that cover only a small fraction of the poor and offer insufficient support. Additionally, it points out the inefficiency of public resource allocation, with a substantial portion spent on poorly targeted benefits such as energy subsidies and public sector pensions that mostly benefit the better-off.

South Asia’s social protection systems are also described as lacking robustness, making them ill-equipped for adaptive social protection post-disasters. Furthermore, the report notes a critical underinvestment in labor market programs that could enhance worker employability and connect people to productive employment opportunities.

With a rapidly growing working-age population and a scarcity of job creation—approximately 386 million new workers since 2000 but only 81 million jobs added—the majority of employment remains informal and low-productivity, which fails to lift individuals out of vulnerability.

The report advocates for a model of progressive universalism, a phased approach to social protection beginning with the poor and vulnerable, with a focus on children, youth, and women. This strategy aims to prioritize high-impact, cost-effective measures while setting a long-term goal of achieving universal social protection. The proposed 4-pillar framework includes recommendations that promote equity, resilience, opportunity, and the development of robust social protection systems and financing, all tailored to the fiscal realities and institutional capacities of South Asian countries.